Channel Formats with Flexible Duration in Wireless Communications

1. A method for wireless communication, comprising: determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting uplink communications in a slot based on an indication of the channel format received from a base station, wherein the channel format is based at least in part on a payload size of the uplink communications and based at least in part on an uplink channel duration for transmitting the uplink communications, wherein the channel format is determined from multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; determining a starting symbol and an ending symbol of the uplink channel duration of the slot for transmitting the uplink communications; determining, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol and based on the channel format, one or more symbols to utilize in transmitting the uplink communications in the slot; and transmitting, based on determining the one or more symbols, the uplink communications in the one or more symbols in the slot.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format is determined as being one of a first channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a first payload size, a second channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a second payload size, or a third channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a third payload size, wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern, in at least a portion of the slot, of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and symbols designated for uplink data transmissions, wherein the alternating RS symbols are alternating in a time domain.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the channel format is selected based on determining that the payload size of the uplink communications is one or two bits of uplink control data.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the channel format indicates the starting symbol in the pattern as designated for DM-RS.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission, and wherein the channel format is determined to include at least one of the one or more RS symbols in the pattern.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the channel format also indicates a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the each of the multiple channel formats define a fixed pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising determining, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol, a spreading factor and/or an orthogonal cover set for transmitting the uplink communications.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein determining the spreading factor and/or the orthogonal cover set is further based at least in part on whether frequency hopping is configured.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of three or four symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in the slot.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of two symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot where frequency hopping is configured.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one or two symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in the slot.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one symbol designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot where frequency hopping is configured.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the channel format defines a fixed per symbol user multiplexing scheme and/or flexible multi-symbol user multiplexing schemes.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the channel format and/or a multiplexing scheme for transmitting the uplink communications is further based at least in part on a Doppler mode.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the channel format and/or whether to enable intra-slot frequency hopping is based at least in part on a Doppler mode or the payload size.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the channel format is further based at least in part on determining whether the channel format includes at least one symbol designated for transmitting a demodulation reference signal (DM-RS).

19. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a transceiver for communicating one or more wireless signals via at least a transmitter and one or more antennas; a memory configured to store instructions; and one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: determine a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting uplink communications in a slot based on an indication of the channel format received from a base station, wherein the channel format is based at least in part on a payload size of the uplink communications and based at least in part on an uplink channel duration for transmitting the uplink communications, wherein the channel format is determined from multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; determine a starting symbol and an ending symbol of an uplink channel duration of the slot for transmitting the uplink communications; determine, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol and based on the channel format, one or more symbols to utilize in transmitting the uplink communications in the slot; and transmit, based on determining the one or more symbols, the uplink communications in the one or more symbols in the slot.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the channel format is determined as being one of a first channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a first payload size, a second channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a second payload size, or a third channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a third payload size, wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

21. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern, in at least a portion of the slot, of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and symbols designated for uplink data transmissions, wherein the alternating RS symbols are alternating in a time domain.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 , wherein the channel format is selected based on determining that the payload size of the uplink communications is one or two bits of uplink control data.

23. The apparatus of claim 22 , wherein the channel format indicates the starting symbol in the pattern as designated for DM-RS.

24. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission, and wherein the channel format is determined to include at least one of the one or more RS symbols in the pattern.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 , wherein the channel format also indicates a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

26. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein the each of the multiple channel formats defines a fixed pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

27. The apparatus of claim 19 , further comprising determining, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol, a spreading factor and/or an orthogonal cover set for transmitting the uplink communications.

28. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein determining the channel format and/or a multiplexing scheme for transmitting the uplink communications is further based at least in part on a Doppler mode.

29. The apparatus of claim 19 , wherein determining the channel format and/or whether to enable intra-slot frequency hopping is based at least in part on a Doppler mode or the payload size.

30. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting uplink communications in a slot based on an indication of the channel format received from a base station, wherein the channel format is based at least in part on a payload size of the uplink communications and based at least in part on an uplink channel duration for transmitting the uplink communications, wherein the channel format is determined from multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; means for determining a starting symbol and an ending symbol of an uplink channel duration of the slot for transmitting the uplink communications; means for determining, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol and based on the channel format, one or more symbols to utilize in transmitting the uplink communications in the slot; and means for transmitting, based on determining the one or more symbols, the uplink communications in the one or more symbols in the slot.

31. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the channel format is determined as being one of a first channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a first payload size, a second channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a second payload size, or a third channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a third payload size, wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

32. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern, in at least a portion of the slot, of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and symbols designated for uplink data transmissions, wherein the alternating RS symbols are alternating in a time domain.

33. The apparatus of claim 32 , wherein the channel format is selected based on determining that the payload size of the uplink communications is one or two bits of uplink control data.

34. The apparatus of claim 33 , wherein the channel format indicates the starting symbol in the pattern as designated for DM-RS.

35. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission, and wherein the channel format is determined to include at least one of the one or more RS symbols in the pattern.

36. The apparatus of claim 30 , wherein the each of the multiple channel formats define a fixed pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

37. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising code executable by one or more processors for wireless communication, the code comprising: code for determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting uplink communications in a slot based on an indication of the channel format received from a base station, wherein the channel format is based at least in part on a payload size of the uplink communications and based at least in part on an uplink channel duration for transmitting the uplink communications, wherein the channel format is determined from multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; code for determining a starting symbol and an ending symbol of an uplink channel duration of the slot for transmitting the uplink communications; code for determining, based at least in part on the starting symbol and the ending symbol and based on the channel format, one or more symbols to utilize in transmitting the uplink communications in the slot; and code for transmitting, based on determining the one or more symbols, the uplink communications in the one or more symbols in the slot.

38. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the channel format is determined as being one of a first channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a first payload size, a second channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a second payload size, or a third channel format of the multiple channel formats that corresponds to a third payload size, wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

39. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern, in at least a portion of the slot, of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and symbols designated for uplink data transmissions, wherein the alternating RS symbols are alternating in a time domain.

40. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 39 , wherein the channel format is selected based on determining that the payload size of the uplink communications is one or two bits of uplink control data.

41. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 40 , wherein the channel format indicates the starting symbol in the pattern as designated for DM-RS.

42. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the channel format defines the pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission, and wherein the channel format is determined to include at least one of the one or more RS symbols in the pattern.

43. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 37 , wherein the each of the multiple channel formats define a fixed pattern of one or more reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission and a hopping position corresponding to a symbol boundary at which to switch communication frequency.

44. A method for wireless communication, comprising: indicating an uplink channel duration for transmitting communications over an uplink channel; determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting the communications over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration in a slot, wherein the channel format is one of multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels and is determined based on at least a payload size of the communications and the uplink channel duration, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; transmitting an indication of the channel format to use for transmitting communications over the uplink channel; and receiving, based on transmitting the indication of the channel format, uplink communications according to the channel format and over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration.

45. The method of claim 44 , wherein a first channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a first payload size and indicates a first fixed pattern of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot, wherein a second channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a second payload size and indicates a second fixed pattern of three or four RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, wherein a third channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a third payload size and indicates a third fixed pattern of one or two RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, and wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

46. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: a transceiver for communicating one or more wireless signals via at least a transmitter and one or more antennas; a memory configured to store instructions; and one or more processors communicatively coupled with the transceiver and the memory, wherein the one or more processors are configured to: indicate an uplink channel duration for transmitting communications over an uplink channel; determine a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting the communications over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration in a slot, wherein the channel format is one of multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels and is determined based on at least a payload size of the communications and the uplink channel duration, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; transmit an indication of the channel format to use for transmitting communications over the uplink channel; and receive, based on transmitting the indication of the channel format, uplink communications according to the channel format and over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration.

47. The apparatus of claim 46 , wherein a first channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a first payload size and indicates a first fixed pattern of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot, wherein a second channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a second payload size and indicates a second fixed pattern of three or four RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, wherein a third channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a third payload size and indicates a third fixed pattern of one or two RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, and wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

48. An apparatus for wireless communication, comprising: means for indicating an uplink channel duration for transmitting communications over an uplink channel; means for determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting the communications over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration in a slot, wherein the channel format is one of multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels and is determined based on at least a payload size of the communications and the uplink channel duration, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; means for transmitting an indication of the channel format to use for transmitting communications over the uplink channel; and means for receiving, based on transmitting the indication of the channel format, uplink communications according to the channel format and over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration.

49. The apparatus of claim 48 , wherein a first channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a first payload size and indicates a first fixed pattern of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot, wherein a second channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a second payload size and indicates a second fixed pattern of three or four RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, wherein a third channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a third payload size and indicates a third fixed pattern of one or two RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, and wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.

50. A non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising code executable by one or more processors for wireless communication, the code comprising: code for indicating an uplink channel duration for transmitting communications over an uplink channel; code for determining a channel format of an uplink control channel for transmitting communications over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration in a slot, wherein the channel format is one of multiple channel formats defined for uplink control channels and is determined based on at least a payload size of the communications and the uplink channel duration, wherein the channel format defines a pattern for transmitting a reference signal in at least a first one of multiple symbols in the slot and the uplink communications in at least a second one of the multiple symbols in the slot, and wherein the channel format defines the pattern as one of a first pattern based on frequency hopping being configured or a second pattern, different from the first pattern, based on frequency hopping not being configured; code for transmitting an indication of the channel format to use for transmitting communications over the uplink channel; and code for receiving, based on transmitting the indication of the channel format, uplink communications according to the channel format and over the uplink channel during the uplink channel duration.

51. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 50 , wherein a first channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a first payload size and indicates a first fixed pattern of alternating reference signal (RS) symbols designated for demodulation reference signal (DM-RS) transmission in each half slot of the slot, wherein a second channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a second payload size and indicates a second fixed pattern of three or four RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, wherein a third channel format of the multiple channel formats corresponds to a third payload size and indicates a third fixed pattern of one or two RS symbols designated for DM-RS transmission in the slot, and wherein the first payload size is less than the second payload size, and the second payload size is less than the third payload size.